home sweet home, ocean blue
by adventurtle
Summary: [sally/poseidon, for the pjo ship weeks] "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach." / A collection of drabbles/short one-shots in which Sally and Poseidon meet and fall in love. {2/5}
1. everything that drowns me

The water is cold, freezing Sally Jackson's toes as she dips them into it.

She just smiles. It's not like she cares.

Earth is a hostile and cruel place, but the sea is gentle and calm and kind and never-ending, and Sally loves it more than she loves anything on this wretched Earth.

She doesn't like flying either. Sometimes she looks up at the sky and curses it with all her heart, because the sky is cruel too, and it took everything she ever had. It took her parents.

Sometimes it seems like all she has left is the sea, _water _even, rivers and lakes and even pools. It's the only place she feels at home. It's the only thing she loves, too; she loves the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves and the colour of it, the clear turquoise shallows and the deep blue mysterious depths, the slightly greenish waters of the northern fjords and the brown tint of tumultuous rivers after a storm.

It's only natural that she meets the love of her life that day at the beach.

Montauk isn't exactly a popular place, and almost every summer she ends up alone on the beach with the rundown cabin behind her and the sea in front, stretching as far as she can see.

It doesn't matter to her.

She sits right in the wet sand, not bothering with a towel, and lets the water lap at her feet. When she was younger, she used to stay there all day, at that point where the sea and the beach meet, letting the water creep up and down her body as the tide ebbed and flowed.

Today she only sits there for a few minutes before giving up. She can't resist the pull of the ocean, the way it calls for her like a long lost friend.

And so she stands and walks forward, slowly submerging herself beneath the cool, gentle waves, letting the water wash away all her troubles. With a smile, she closes her eyes and begins to float on her back, with the burning hot sun above her and the pleasantly cool ocean beneath.

She doesn't know how long she stays there, floating, but she doesn't care. She has an entire week to herself, to do exactly as she pleases, and if she wants to spend her days floating on her back in the middle of the ocean, then she will.

Unfortunately, the ocean does not seem to agree with her.

When she opens her eyes, the sky above her is grey and the sea is slowly but surely getting rougher. She jerks upwards from her floating position and ends up treading water. She notices she's drifted a couple of hundred meters away from the beach, and bites her lip nervously as the violent winds rip at her hair.

Frowning worriedly, she does the only possible thing in this situation, and begins to swim towards the shore. Fighting against the waves and the current is a difficult thing, and before she's even halfway back, her legs and arms are aching agonizingly and her nose, mouth and eyes are full of seawater.

Thunder booms above her and flashes of lightning illuminate the sky, and she's on the brink of giving up when all of sudden, her body becomes as light as a feather.

It's like the waves have suddenly decided to help her out and bring her back to the shore, effortlessly pushing her along, faster than she could ever swim.

Even with the ocean's unexpected moment of mercy, when the waves wash her onto the sandy shore, every limb is aching, her eyes sting and the inside of her throat is coated in seawater. She feels horrible, but at least she's alive.

And then she rolls over onto her back, and realizes there's someone standing above her. She almost shrieks as she shoots up into a sitting position, glaring at the man standing right next to her.

He's tall, quite broad, with tanned skin, black hair and eyes green like the sea and Sally can't bring herself to yell at him.

He smiles.

"You shouldn't swim alone," he says, and his voice is soothing like the sound of waves.

And then his smile turns into a smirk.

"It's dangerous."

* * *

_phew, I'm so glad I got this done in time. I didn't want to miss the first day of the ship weeks this year!_

_anyway, thanks for reading and please review!_

_also yes, this is a collection and there will be more one-shots like this, but given that they're all separate one-shots, there will be no common storyline._


	2. if only i knew

He calls himself Percy, and is a lot kinder than she originally thought. She has no idea where he lives, if he even has a home; as more often than not he stays in her cabin overnight and wanders with her on the beach during the day.

She doesn't mind, though. He is tall and handsome, but he is also kind, funny, caring and loveable. He always smells like the sea, and it pulls her to him. She's only known this man for a few days, but she feels like she's already fallen for him, and she's ashamed about it but she doesn't care, she can't help it.

It's on the first day of the second week that he finally decides to tell her the truth.

The sun is shining outside, but there's a cool morning breeze in the air and Sally shivers slightly as she steps out onto the beach in nothing but her bikini and a towel around her shoulders.

Then Percy takes her hand and suddenly she's warm again.

"There's something I need to tell you," he says as he turns towards her, the sun illuminating his face. "My real name's not Percy. It's Poseidon."

She frowns. It's an odd name yes, but is it really odd enough to keep from her. It's just a name, isn't it? Unless-

She gasps.

"No..." she says, her voice nothing more than a whisper. "It's impossible."

"I'm afraid it isn't," Poseidon answers with a sad smile. "I don't expect you to believe me, but I am Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, earthquakes and thunderstorms."

Sally just stands there, eyes wide and jaw gaping.

Then her eyes narrow as she glares at Poseidon.

"Prove it," she says.

He just laughs, and suddenly a sphere of water flies from the ocean right into his hand and just hovers there.

Sally gapes for a few seconds.

And then she pulls herself together and slowly steps up to him, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

He kisses back, losing control of the little ball of water, which returns to its original form, soaking Sally's towel and Poseidon's shirt as it goes.

If either of them notice, they definitely don't care, and they stumble towards the cabin, desperately trying to keep their lips together as they tumble inside.

A gust of wind slams the door shut behind them.


End file.
